0
Matthew Wai Posted 12 years ago
Grammar

''There he was' VS 'There was nothing'.'

A Chinese grammar site says that the verb in the inverted sentence below remains after the subject because 'he' is a pronoun.
'There he was.'

In the sentence below, the verb is put before 'nothing' which is also a pronoun. Why?
'There was nothing.'

I asked the same question on another forum but didn't get an enlightening answer.
  

Top answer

The grammar site probably means that a short personal pronoun is placed before the verb in a sentence like yours. If the subject is longer, the word order usually changes: There was my only friend ! CB

— Cool Breeze

  • The grammar site probably means that a short personal pronoun is placed before the verb in a sentence like yours.
  • If the subject is longer, the word order usually changes: There was my only friend !
  • CB
Free · every Monday

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.

1 Answers
0
The grammar site probably means that a short personal pronoun is placed before the verb in a sentence like yours. If the subject is longer, the word order usually changes: There was my only friend!

CB
0

Related Questions